Newport Trust Company LLC Sells 39,045 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Key Points

• Newport Trust Company LLC reduced its stake in Elevance Health, selling 39,045 shares, which reflects a 3.5% decrease in their holdings, bringing its total ownership to approximately $464.1 million.
• Several analysts have lowered their price targets for Elevance Health, with Guggenheim setting a new target of $360.00 and Robert W. Baird reducing theirs to $297.00, indicating a cautious outlook on the stock.
• Elevance Health's CEO, Gail Boudreaux, purchased 8,500 shares of the company's stock, marking a 5.96% increase in her position, as company insiders own only 0.29% of the stock.

Newport Trust Company LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,067,068 shares of the company's stock after selling 39,045 shares during the quarter. Elevance Health accounts for about 1.2% of Newport Trust Company LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Newport Trust Company LLC owned approximately 0.47% of Elevance Health worth $464,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the first quarter valued at about $299,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 88.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,390 shares of the company's stock worth $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,588 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 185.7% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,083 shares of the company's stock worth $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 15.7% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,717 shares of the company's stock worth $2,922,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 36.8% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,566 shares of the company's stock worth $11,991,000 after purchasing an additional 7,410 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ELV traded up $6.2370 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $315.8370. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,961,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,474,865. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $324.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $378.47. Elevance Health, Inc. has a one year low of $273.71 and a one year high of $567.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.58.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $8.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.30 by ($0.46). Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The business had revenue of $49.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.12 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Elevance Health's payout ratio is 29.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ELV. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Elevance Health from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $500.00 to $440.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $478.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $472.00 to $384.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $492.00 to $297.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Elevance Health has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.81.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In other news, CEO Gail Boudreaux bought 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $286.94 per share, with a total value of $2,438,990.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 151,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,333,678.80. The trade was a 5.96% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan D. Devore bought 1,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $312.15 per share, for a total transaction of $374,580.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,093,149.30. This trade represents a 52.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Elevance Health Profile

Elevance Health, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a health benefits company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Health Benefits, CarelonRx, Carelon Services, and Corporate & Other. It offers a variety of health plans and services to program members; health products; an array of fee-based administrative managed care services; and specialty and other insurance products and services, such as stop loss, dental, vision, life, disability, and supplemental health insurance benefits.